To think secondary school parents are more likely to be happy about their dc going back to school and they should have been first.

[sunshineanddaffodils]

It’s annoying for me to hear all these parents of children at primary school aren’t going to send them back. It’s their choice though and that’s that. But I don’t know anyone with a child in secondary school who’s not worried about their education and desperate for them to be back even for a day a week. God knows when the current years 7,8 and 9 will have any time in school and the educational impact on them will be far greater than primary dc. I know logistically it’s more difficult at secondary but that’s got to be sorted at some point.

@steppemum i totally agree with you in that my secondary school age children are more than capable of working independently online. However, some of the work that is being set has not been set by their teachers so in some cases they have already done some of it. Some teachers put things on line regularly whereas others put loads on at a time with very short timescales. DD isn’t massively academic but she desperately wants to get back to school and see and spend time with friends and people of her own age. She also feels her year group is getting a very raw deal and she is worried how this will affect her GCSE’s or if they will have to repeat a year etc. She is not reliant on us her parents so she spends large chunks of her time on her own in her room.

I have Children in Reception, Year1, Year 7 and Year 10. I have let the youngest children’s head no that they won’t be returning at this time. I have mixed views regarding my 2 at high school, part of me would be happier if it were them going back as they understand social distancing. However, I’ve started to feel if I was told it’s year 7 and 10 going back I would probably say no they aren’t starting either. The safest place for my children is at home at the moment. Doesn’t matter how old they are. Both schools send weekly timetables, Mark work and give feedback. Older 2 spend 5hrs a day on learning. I’m sure they will be fine when they go back to school. I’m not concerned on missed education, just missing out on them growing up. (I know, I know, children get mild symptoms but I don’t want to risk putting them in a position where they could become really poorly)

I am really worried about how this will affect my year 10 and her GCSEs I am wondering if they will make some sort of provision for this when the exams come around - similar to what they have done for year 11s. Year 11a didn't miss any schooling but year 10s are missing out on a formal education for at least a quarter of their whole course - how can they get the results they deserve in that basis?

arickitupyourpompom
I would imagine there'll be a knock on on grade boundaries. The whole cohort is marked first and then grade boundaries are norm referenced. If nationally there's lower performance then the grade boundaries will reflect that.

In addition to that teachers will have to redesign their curriculum. It is far from perfect to have lost a chunk of the course teaching time, but each subject in each school will be working through plans now for different possibilities.

Tiramisuiloveyou
I'm not sure who you were replying to, but I didn't comment on any of that.

I think that people who believe it will be easier to social distance in secondary schools are not thinking straight.

How do you keep kids in classroom bubbles when they are in different sets for different things, and study different combinations of subjects? Primary kids can just stay in the same room with the same 15 children and the same 1 teacher, because they all do the same lessons. That's impossible in secondary schools. So they would have to be traipsing down (often quite narrow) corridors to get to different classes.

I am really worried about how this will affect my year 10 and her GCSEs I am wondering if they will make some sort of provision for this when the exams come around

Well, since grade boundaries are set by the exam boards and can be adjusted according to how the cohort performs, I don't see why that in itself should be a problem tbh.

Imo the real problem is not whether you can adjust the exam or the grades for a whole cohort having missed a chunk of the course (because that can be done). The problem is the inconsistency in quality and quantity of the distance learning that's been provided by different schools. So the kids are not really all in the same boat.

I think it's easier if there's a part time flexible rota and staff have appropriate face coverings.
For example,
Year 10 could be divided in half and on a Monday half are in for maths in the morning, English in the afternoon. The next day the other half come in. Core departments where I've worked typically have 10-15 teachers and 10-15 classes so half a year from at a time could be taught by the department.

Or the hall and sports hall could be used for lecture style teaching for certain subjects and deep cleaned between sessions.

It couldn't be anything close to normal due to most children having totally different timetables, but there's a way to offer something to support remote learning if you only have one year group out of 5 in.

How do you keep kids in classroom bubbles when they are in different sets for different things, and study different combinations of subjects

"bubbles" and physical distancing are not the same thing

And in my son's college only Y12s would have been there, so you would have had a site with only half the students there. A level classes are smaller anyway (I know people have said they have classes with 30 but he says none of his classes have more than about 18 and there is room to space out).

You can't treat FE/6th form colleges like overfull secondary schools. But if Y10s had gone back they'd be the only year group in a 11-16 school and there would have only been two year groups in an 11-18 school.

The problem is the inconsistency in quality and quantity of the distance learning that's been provided by different schools. So the kids are not really all in the same boat

and not just by different schools but within schools, too.

Ive been really happy with the remote learning provision at my son's secondary. Without the distraction of several 'class clowns' he has been able to really focus. I wouldnt want it to go on forever but its been pretty effective and i feel happy him waiting until last as he is a low priority group. The toilets at his school are grim and teenagers and rebellion go hand in hand.
The primary provision has been much harder for me to deliver at home. Theres so much more doing.

On balance I agree. There is the tiniest bit more risk the older children get, but I personally feel that the risk to children is so small and so obviously outweighed by the negative effects of being in lockdown.
As there has always been a debate about how early we send children to school in this country, it does seem mad, educationally, to be sending in 4 and 5 year olds.
Mind you, I think we are doing a generation of children a huge disservice so I am not particularly "objective" in my views.

The problem is the inconsistency in quality and quantity of the distance learning that's been provided by different schools.

But also within those classes where the teachers are providing excellent lessons and resources, but only 40% of the students are doing anything.

@BreatheAndFocus when you have a dc approaching a critical exam you may feel differently

No, I don’t think I will. Success in exams depends on more than being present at school physically. If a child can’t organise their own learning then all the time in the world at school isn’t going to help. But, more importantly, children still have access to their teachers and should be being supported remotely if they have queries or problems. They don’t have to be physically sitting in school.

But, more importantly, children still have access to their teachers and should be being supported remotely if they have queries or problems. They don’t have to be physically sitting in school.

They aren't be supported in many schools unfortunately.

The Government suspended the curriculum when it closed schools. In the section from government guidance on what are the expectations on schools regarding staying in touch with parents whose child is at home:

We recognise that many schools have already shared resources for children who are at home and are grateful for this. Further support includes: a list of educational online resources which have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts to help pupils to learn at home; enhanced education provision from the BBC to include daily lessons, starting from 20 April 2020; resources from Oak National Academy, a sector led initiative to support teachers educating their pupils remotely during the summer term

I have 2 at secondary and not desperate to send them back.

But also within those classes where the teachers are providing excellent lessons and resources, but only 40% of the students are doing anything.

True, but that's not the schools' fault, and to a certain extent it's replicating what happens in school - i.e. some kids make an effort and some do as little as they can get away with.

I have great sympathy for parents who are wfh and struggling to help younger children with their distance learning. I have less sympathy with parents who can't make their one or two teenagers do any work but assume it's easy for teachers to make 30 teenagers at a time do their work.

At the risk of repeating pp (just finished work and don’t want to be indoors too long), it’s financial, not educational decision. If you small dc, you can’t leave them at home alone, whereas obviously older dc can usually be left. The govt wants the workforce back. The exams etc will have to be adapted to allow for gaps in knowledge next year.

Honestly, I think we should adopt the European model of no school til 6, bar the social aspect, which can be satisfied via nursery, I don’t see the point.

I'm not happy to send my year 7 DC back to school. The building is too small for the number of students, is grubby at the best of times and I wonder if teenagers are more at the adult level of risk than the child level. They don't need to be there yet, so I think better to keep them home. Some schools have been excellent at teaching online, others not so much, so improving the quality of this is what needs to be the focus for now imo.

DD has an autoimmune condition and will not be going back immediately. Am I thrilled about it? No, but it's too risky to send her in.